Labor & Employment

Private and public companies across the United States turn to us for advice on labor and employment, immigration and workers’ compensation issues; comprehensive preventive counseling and compliance services; and strategic, efficient defense in complex disputes. We focus on helping clients forge and maintain effective labor-management relations.

Our services cover the following key areas:

Employment counseling & preventive services

Employment litigation

Immigration issues

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) claims

Traditional labor & union relations

Workers’ compensation

Whether companies call on us to serve as outside labor and employment counsel, immigration counsel or as an extension of their in-house human resources departments, we offer services according to our clients’ needs.

We advise employers on employee handbooks and policy development, train employees and provide guidance on all aspects of ever-changing employment regulations. Our lawyers counsel management teams on effective personnel management strategies in union and nonunion environments and provide training to help minimize the risk of litigation. We also counsel human resources professionals on strategies for hiring foreign nationals and federal requirements relating to employment eligibility verification (the I-9 process).

When litigation is unavoidable, clients trust us to secure courtroom victories. Our experienced trial lawyers provide representation in the full spectrum of employment litigation, from individual cases to multiparty claims and class action suits.

Having a motivated, content workforce is critical to the success of all companies. That is why our lawyers spend considerable time uncovering the root of the issue and providing solutions to not only address existing problems, but also implement policies and programs to prevent future legal pitfalls and costly litigation.

Representative Experience

Employment Litigation

Defeated an attempt to certify a nationwide class of over 1,600 individuals in a wage-hour action pending in federal district court in Florida.

Tried a wrongful discharge/intentional tort case to a jury verdict. The defense verdict on the wrongful discharge claim and the intentional tort claim was later settled, resulting in a very favorable outcome for the company.

Obtained dismissal of a wage and hour collective action against an Ohio nonprofit organization that operates multiple group homes, where the plaintiff claimed that she and members of the class were misclassified as exempt employees.

Obtained summary judgment for a worldwide package delivery service in federal court in Kentucky, where the plaintiff challenged the employer’s company-wide policy of providing light duty only to employees who suffered job-related injuries, claiming that the policy violated the Pregnancy Discrimination Act.

Obtained summary judgment for a large plastics manufacturer against a class of retirees, where the union claimed that the manufacturer violated collective bargaining agreements by requiring union retirees to pay a portion of medical insurance premiums for the first time.

Successfully defended a non-compete case in a two-day hearing on a motion for preliminary injunction in federal district court in Louisville, Kentucky.

Obtained a preliminary injunction on behalf of a national client in a non-compete case, which prevented both the former employee and her spouse, who was not employed by nor a party to any agreement with the client, from any competitive employment.

Obtained summary judgment from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio in an age discrimination case for a national company. The plaintiff, let go during a reduction-in-force, was the most senior member of the department by more than 15 years.

Obtained summary judgment from the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana in an FMLA/pregnancy discrimination case for a national company. The plaintiff was terminated from her employment within days of returning to work from maternity leave. Successfully defended the appeal of this matter before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Other Matters

Aggressively defended two Fortune Global 500 companies against nine OSHA citation items resulting from a chemical release, eight of which were classified as “serious,” resulting in a successful settlement wherein OSHA agreed to vacate six of the “serious” items, reclassify one of the “serious” items to an “other than serious classification,” and reduce the total fine by more than 60%.

Successfully defended a chemical products manufacturer, resulting in the dismissal of unfair labor practice charges related to the termination of an employee and a company’s non-solicitation policy.

Redesigned the HR/employment complaint procedure for a subsidiary of a Fortune 500 company employing 9,000 people. This project involved meeting with the HR team from all U.S. plants, designing a comprehensive employee complaint procedure to handle EEO, harassment, whistleblower, SOX, etc., complaints and conducting “train-the trainer” workshops.

Conducted a successful three-day labor arbitration for a warehousing client over the implementation and reasonableness of computerized order selector productivity standards.

Handled the longest Cincinnati-area strike in recent history, including picket line monitoring, injunctive relief for picket line violence and successful contempt hearings against the union.

Negotiated labor agreements for employers whose employees are represented by the UAW, IAM, Teamsters and the newly formed USW (Steelworkers, PACE, etc.).

Assisted a multi-state manufacturer with four OFCCP audits of its affirmative action plans, including hiring, promotion, termination and compensation analyses.

Counseled an Ohio-based manufacturer in the purchase and assimilation of a multi-state competitor, including substantial production-level RIFs, consolidation of both management teams, WARN compliance and drafting of state-law compliant releases.

Assisted a manufacturer with the purchase of a unionized operation and subsequent union negotiations over closure, severance, WARN and release-related issues.

Client Counseling & Prevention

We advise employers on their employment policies and practices, including:

Affirmative action plans

Drug policies

Employment handbooks

Employment contracts

Family and medical leave

Federal and state investigations

Immigration issues

Independent contractor contracts

Non-compete agreements

Occupational safety and health issues

Plant closings

Privacy issues

Reductions-in-force

Return-to-work issues

Severance plans and releases

Sexual harassment training

Technology matters

Terminations

Trade/business secrets

Wage hour compliance

Workers’ compensation programs

Employment Litigation

We represent small and large employers in class actions and individual cases in state and federal courts, arbitrations and mediations. We have consciously chosen to integrate our counseling with our employment defense services; this strategy helps our clients to avoid future employment defense actions. Our areas of litigation experience include:

Age discrimination

Disability discrimination

Implied and express contract

Non-compete defense and prosecution

Public policy torts

Race/national origin discrimination

Retaliation matters

Trade secret theft

Sexual and other harassment

Wrongful termination

Management-Union Relations

We provide traditional labor management-union services, including:

301 actions

Defending unfair labor practice (ULP) charges

Developing strategies to meet union organizing campaigns

Grievance arbitrations

National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) issues

Negotiations and bargaining

Strike planning and injunctions

Supervisor training

Union avoidance

Union decertification

Immigration

Our Immigration services cover the full-scope of non-immigrant and immigrant classifications. Following is a sampling of the employment-based non-immigrant classifications that our corporate clients most often utilize:

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